One of the biggest boxing events of the year airs live on ESPN Saturday, December 8 from The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The reigning WBA lightweight champion, Vasiliy Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) is set to take on WBO champion Jose “Sniper” Pedraza (25-1, 12 KOs) in a title unification main event airing live and exclusively on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 9 p.m. ET, immediately following the live presentation of the 2018 Heisman Trophy Ceremony. Top Rank on ESPN will drop gloves just after 6 p.m. ET starting with the undercards on ESPN+ — the new multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer & International segment and ESPN.

Countdown to Lomachenko vs. Pedraza, a four-part series that takes viewers behind the scenes as one of the world’s great pound-for-pound fighters attempts to unify lightweight world titles against WBO world champion Pedraza. Episodes include:

“Loma: Under the Knife” (available now) — rare footage of Lomachenko prepping for shoulder surgery, the surgery itself, how he injured it vs. Jorge Linares, and how his team handled his comeback.

Unifying The Belts (premieres today) — Lomachenko and Pedraza talk about their chances and ambitions to unify the lightweight title belts.

Fishing with Loma (premieres Wednesday, Dec 5) — Behind the scenes day fishing with Lomachenko and his team off the coast of California.

Up-to-date on-scene coverage every step of the way from Rafael who will be with the fighters multiple days this week

News updates and a complete guide to the fight on ESPN.com and the ESPN app from Rafael out Friday, December 7

ESPN Fantasy game Streak for the Cash will offer fight predictions for the Co-Main and Main Event during the ESPN live event telecast Saturday, December 8

Confident Abreu Looks To Shine In Lomachenko-Pedraza Card

Dominican Juan Carlos “Merengue” Abreu (24-4-1, 19 KOs) aims to beat in high fashion the current IBF USBA welterweight champion Alexander Besputin (11-0, 9 KOs) of Russia, in a duel that will be broadcast by the ESPN+ app this Saturday, December 8th at 6:00 pm ET.

The fight will be part of the world championship unification bout between José Pedraza and Vasyl Lomachenko at the Madison Square Garden Theater.

“I feel very well prepared for this fight. Focused and motivated for victory. It would be very important because it is at a huge event, and many people all over the world will see it. I’m just waiting to have that title, God willing”, said Abreu, who is trained by Chiro Perez in Florida, and managed by Spartan Boxing Club.

“Besputin is strong, and he is protected by Top Rank. I know I have to do extra work than I normally do for the win, and I have the experience to beat him or any other boxer. I am ready to win, and I hope the judges are fair to my performance”, he added.

In his last appearance, Abreu lost by unanimous decision in close fight against Egidijus Kavaliauskas of Lithuania.

“I know what it feels like to face the promoter’s fighter and lose unfairly. I’m in the same situation this Saturday, but that doesn’t take away my dream of being great in this sport. Let’s do this”, said Abreu.